DOHA (MEMO/Arab News) – Floods have swept the streets of Doha following heavy rains on Thursday, bringing parts of the capital of Qatar to a standstill only four months before the 2022 World Cup is scheduled to start there.
Social media videos show inundated streets and near-submerged cars close to World Cup structures.
People took to Twitter to criticize the quality of the capital’s infrastructure in a country that will be hosting the world’s biggest sports event in November.
Initially, the football event was supposed to start in July, but it was moved to November because Qatar was considered too hot during the summer. It is the first tournament not to be held in May, June or July.
Qatar 2022 is also the first World Cup to be held in the region. Upon the announcement in 2010 that the event would take place in the Persian Gulf emirate, FIFA - world football’s governing body - and Qatar’s bidding team had to address issues around heat and humidity.
Thousands of people were evacuated from their homes in the UAE as torrential rainfall hit the country’s east and northern region, the Ministry of Interior (MoI) said in a statement.
Two days of heavy rain across the north and east of the country left 4,225 needing to be evacuated.
The emirates of Sharjah, Ras al-Khaimah and Fujairah were the most affected areas.
Videos circulating online showed vehicles almost entirely submerged, particularly in Sharjah, Ras al-Khaimah and Fujairah.
The National Center of Meteorology earlier issued a safety alert warning of a continuity of rainfall and flooding in the valleys over some eastern and mountain areas of the country.
Meanwhile in Oman, the Police Aviation and the Royal Air Force of Oman said they evacuated hundreds of people who were trapped in their homes and vehicles after valleys in the Wilayat of Madha, Musandam Governorate overflowed.